Detergent composition



Patented July 16, 1946 DETERGENT COMPOSITION William B. Hicks and Donald J. Saunders, Syracuse, N. Y., assignors to Company, New York, N.

" New York The Solvay Process Y., a corporation of No Drawing. Application March 28, 1942,

Serial No. 436,722

2 Claims. (01. 252-138) This invention relates to a new composition of matter for use as a cleansing agent or detergent.

Numerous cleansing agents are known containing various detergents including alkalies. For example, the following mixtures of materials have been proposed for use as cleansing agents: a. A mixture containing sodium carbonate,

tetrasodium pyrophosphate, sodium perborate brA mixture containing sodium carbonate, trisodium phosphate, Turkey-red oil and tetra-hydronaphthalene sulfonate of sodium.

c. A mixture of tetrasodium pyrophosph'ate,

trisodium phosphate, sodium metasilicate, soap and sodium perborate.

Most mixtures of cleansing compounds contheir salts may be used: Alkyl aryl sulfonateau taining alkalies (such as the above three mixtures) which have heretofore been available on the market have been deficient in certain aspects. Some have low cleaning power; some do not rinse well; others are strongly alkaline and thusare irritating to the hands; others have the defect of being expensive.

It is an oblectof this invention to provide a detergent composition which has a very high degree of cleaning ability in relation to its cost and which has a relatively low alkalinity and, thus, is'non-irritating to the hands. Further obiects are to provide such detergent compositions which rinse well from the articles being cleaned. are readily soluble in water to give solutions of low turbidity, and to give solutions which do not suds excessively so as to interfere with the cleansing operations.

We have discovered that mixtures containing certain alkali compounds and organic: detergents in specific proportions are particularly effective cleansers which may be produced at a low cost and have the other desirable characteristics of cleansers referred to above. These mixtures contain the following materials in the stated proportions in parts by weight (anhydrous basis) Parts by weight Sodium carbonate 40 to 50, preferably 42 to 47 Tetrasodium pyro phosphate to 33, preferably 27 to so Trisodium phosphate 2 to 7, preferably 4 to 5 Sodium metasilicate- Organic detergent 2 to '7, preferably 4 to 5 1 to 3, preferably 1.5 to 2 The quantity or organic detergent is stated in terms of actual organic material and does not in- 2 present in the organic detergents as purchased on themarket.

Inthe foregoing table the term "organic detergent designates an organic detergent material which is substantially free from higher fatty acids and their salts. These organic detergents do not include ordinary soaps, which are characterized by containing salts of the higher fattyacids. The following are representative organic detergents suitable for incorporation in our de- I v tergent compositions, but the numerous other organic detergents free from higher fatty acids and particularly those now marketed undeiythe trade name Nacconol, in which the organic detergent constituents are sodium salts of alkyr'be'nzene sulfonates in which the allLvl group contains'from 12 to 18 carbon atoms; organic nitrosattontation products, particularly those of the ty disclosed in U. S. P. 2,265,993 whi :h a -{signedDecember 16, 1941, to Leland J. aromatic. v

monosodium sulfonates, for example the product now marketed under the trade-:nameWUltrawetL In addiiton to the aforedescribedconstituents,

25 the detergent compositions of our invention may additional materials, as desired.

contain moisture, coloring-matteninert ingredients, impurities, etc. or they may'contain other The ingredients used in making the mixtures may be supplied as the anhydrous materials or as hydrates. It is preferred to employ commercial anhydrous sodium carbonate (soda ash) anhydrous tetrasodium pyrophosphate, hydrated trisodium phosphate, hydrated sodium metasilicate, and the organic detergents in the form in which the'y'are supplied to the market as relatively dry solids. I a

Our composition may be made by mixing the ingredients in any suitable manner, for example, by mixing them in the'dry state in equipment such as is commonly used for mixing dry solids. Some of the ingredients may be mixed in theadry state, the mixture sprayed with water or a solution of one or more ofthe other ingredients, and the remaining ingredients incorporated as solids in the mixture. After mixing all of the ingredients, the resulting material may lie-allowed to stand for a suitably long period of time so that after screening to obtain a desired particle size, the product is relatively non-caking. The following example will more particularly illustrate this latter method of preparing the detergent compositions of this invention:

Light soda ash (4'70 pounds), commercial hyclude inorganic constituents which are frequently is drated trisodium phosphate pounds), and

' 3 commercial hydrated sodium metasilicate (80 pounds) are first mixed together. 50 pounds of a commercial organic detergent sold under the trade name Nacconol NRNO (a material containing the sodium salts of alkyl aryl sulfonates) are mixed with 100 pounds of water to form a slurry which is sprayed on the mixture of the foregoing solids while continuing the mixing operation. After addition of this slurry, anhydrous tetrasodium pyrophosphate (300 pounds) is added while the mixing operation is continued. After thorough'm'ixing, the. material is discharged from the ixer, cured by holding it 24 hours or longer at a temperature of 35 to 45 C. and then screened and packed. After curing, in the course of which the mixture loses some water, the product of this example contains the following ingredients in substantially the indicated percent by weight:

. Percent Sodium carbonate 45 Tetrasodium pyrophosphate 29 Trisodium phosphate 4 Sodium metasilicate 4 Organic detergent 1.7

It is preferred that the foregoing ingredients parts tetrasodium pyrophosphate, 2 to 7 parts trisodium phosphate, 2 to 7 parts sodium metasilicate, and 1 to 3 parts of a water-soluble, solid organic suli'onate detergent.

2'. A detergent composition comprising (by weight) 40 to parts sodium carbonate, 25 to 33 parts tetrasodium pyrophosphate, 2 to 7 parts trisodium phosphate, 2 to 7 parts sodium metasilicate, and 1 to 3 parts of a water-soluble, solid alkyl aryl 'sulfonate detergent.

We. HICKS. DONALD J. SAUNDERS. 

